


Look How They Shine For You

by fatedtomeet



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, F/F, Harry/OFC - Freeform, M/M, Sad Niall, Sunshine Niall, appalachian trail, hiker niall, hippy like louis, horchata - Freeform, nick/niall - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 03:28:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10845543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatedtomeet/pseuds/fatedtomeet
Summary: AU: A bit broken Niall decides to trek the Appalachian Trail to find himself and his happiness again. Along the way he has many adventures, some good and some bad and meets a few people he never expected to along the way.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [glazedsun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glazedsun/gifts).



He starts from the south on the first of May, a warm morning in the Chattahooche National forest. His backpack is just the wrong side of heavy but he'll get used to it as he goes, an extra pair of hiking boots dangling from the front. Niall is a tad bit nervous, but mostly he's excited for the new adventure ahead of him and the chance to get lost in only his surroundings. Maybe he'll even be able to push all of the internal things that have been building up for far too long now away, to focus only on each step and the stretch of mountains and trees before him as he makes his way onward.. beyond. 

He'd stopped at the REI in Atlanta on the way, spent hours perusing over the different tents, the hydration packs and the essentials for cooking and lighting. One of the friendly staff members had talked him tthrough it, making a little check list for him and even helped him make sure it fit in his pack. This was his first experience with something like this and it showed, but he felt more at ease with it now than when he'd stepped through the doors of the store, gaining confidence as he listened to her soft accent and pronunciation of words, the gentleness behind them and her friendly way as she talked him through each item and explained their uses and why he might need them. 

There's a little patch of wild flowers to the right, and Niall starts to move towards them slowly. He doesn't have any expectations for this, just to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. Haz had figured out the tougher parts - told him where to stop to get all of his gear; printed him off a map of all the distances between shelters, and where the best towns to stop were. He gave him a list of the places there'd be money waiting for him at the post office, more supplies he might need along the way. All the tiny minute details he wouldn't of thought of on his own, all the things that would of fallen to the wayside. In a way it was a spur of the moment decision, something he needed to do for himself but if he'd been left to it on his own he'd be ravenous and lost in no time on the Appalachian Trail. 

He makes his way towards the sign that announced the Appalachian Trail approach and the Springer Mountain location, Mount Katahdin, Maine below it over 2,000 miles away. He's ready, as ready as he'll ever be.


	2. Chapter 1

It's quiet is the first thing Niall notices, the sound of woodland creatures like music in the background. His body is tired but determined and adjusting, moving forward along the trail, over exposed tree roots and through growing grass. Sometimes in the distance he can see water or hear the far off sounds of cars on a road but for the most part it is quiet. There's been a few people to pass him by, lost in their own movements or their breathing, on whatever this journey may mean to them. He doesn't speak, offering up an occasional nod and a smile if they look up as they pass him. He let's them go, determination and a knowingness about their pace like this isn't the first time they've walked the sometimes twisting and inclined terrain. A group of kids, maybe a couple of years younger than him are in the nearby distance when he passes a shelter, waving at him eagerly as he passes and stops to fill up his water bottle. The smell of hamburgers is overwhelming and mouthwatering but he doesn't linger, just moves on with a lift of his hand as he departs back along the trail. It's the Springer Mountain Shelter, Haz had that one stared on his paper but he isn't ready to stop and he hasn't gone very far, not yet. It must be for the people who started in Maine, almost at the end of their trip now, tired and ready to ease on through the stone arch way to whoever might be waiting for them when they emerge. He tries not to think about when he reaches Katahdin, how there will be no one there to hug tightly or pull in close, to kiss soft and clasp their hand. No one to relive stories with or talk their ear off with tales of the trail. It'll be just him there, perhaps the car Harry arranged for him to make the drive back to New York. The small home office he turned into a bedroom for Niall, the sound of his two girls playing cheerfully in their room and the smell of coffee his wife Rose makes in the wee hours of the morning and has waiting for him when he stumbles to the kitchen and joins her on the balcony overlooking the city.

He continues on past the Stover Creek shelter, stopping again only to fill up his water bottle and fish a protein bar out of his pack. Niall needs a breather so he settles at the picnic table, stretching his legs beneath it and arching his back, chasing away the pain from his backpack though he's getting used to it. There's a loft there, and he gazes up at it, taking in the small structure to give people a resting place for the night, something a bit safer than being in the open. There's a few bunnies down by the spring and he watches them for a long moment as they frolic and play. He lets his eyes fall shut when there's a breeze rustling through the trees, enjoying the hint of cool through the fabric of his sweaty shirt and his dark hair slicked to his forehead. He savors the bite of the protein bar, chocolate and nuts, bits of fruit inside and gets up to fill his bottle again before lifting the sturdy pack back onto his back and rolling his shoulders, shifting a bit to get it to settle. 

 

It's dusk before he reaches the Hawk Mountain shelter, sun slowly but steadily disappearing as he passes the campsites flanking the shelter. There are a few tents pitched, fires started and the smell of food which makes his stomach growl at him pathetically and he nods. "Soon." He murmurs to himself under his breath, careful as he makes his way up the trail along a creek, one he can't remember the name of now though Haz had told him, he's sure of it. 

It's a tiny little open faced shack when he makes his way up to it, but it's sturdy and solid and most of all empty, which is what Niall needs right now. He strips his pack off on the picnic table in front then takes a moment to down some water, rinsing off his hands after. He makes his way inside, picking the left corner then starts to empty out the items he'll need for the night, his rolled up sleeping bag and a can of beans. He probably should change into fresh clothes, but suddenly he's bone tired and heavy on his feet and he's still got to find some kindling and build a small fire. Perhaps he could use someone else's fire but he doesn't feel much like making small talk or even putting in the effort of being around other's right now. 

It doesn't take him very long to collect an armful of sticks and a log or two, making his way back to the building. There's a fire pit to the side and he takes his time arranging them within before getting a lighter to start the fire. It's slow building, flickers of light, until it's burning low but steady. He sets the can in the little holder the girl had talked him into at REI then settles beside it, watching sparks disappear into the night sky peeking between branches of trees. Once the can is heated and the beans are cooked and bubbling a bit inside, he guides it off slow and lets it settle on the ground, giving it time to cool just the slightest before dipping his fork in. It's delicious in a way he hadn't much expected, but that may just be the miles that are behind him. Niall takes his time and enjoys the food and being surrounded by nature, crunching of branches in the distance and the laughter of other hikers at their tents. He listens for a bit, the sounds of people enjoying themselves thoroughly, gathered around the fire and relaxing after a long day's hike. 

When he starts to doze off the fire is smoldering, dying down to ashes and he lifts himself up to go back into the shelter. Niall's surprised at the small beam of light against the wall from a tiny lantern, the sight of a second sleeping bag spread out across the platform and the body within it, fingers curled around a pen as they scribble words across the page of a journal settled in his lap. His eyes go wide and his head tilts, looking the man over before clearing his throat and bringing him from his drifted off state. 

"Saw you head up this way earlier, don't mind having a bunk mate do ya? It's getting too loud down there, everyone's letting a bit loose i think, got a long stretch of the trail ahead of them." His brown hair is sticking up in different directions and Niall can see the patch of sunburn on his nose in the light. He's beaming wide and friendly, eyes sparkling a bit and almost hopeful, like he's afraid he'll tell him to get the hell out. 

"Don't mind, no. Plenty of space, think I read it fits ten or twelve, yeah? " Niall offers after a few moments, trying to find words after being silent and lost in mostly solitude the whole day. 

He climbs up to his sleeping bag, and settles against it, rinsing his mouth out with water and looks over at the other man as he contemplates digging out something to sleep in before deciding against it, dirty but comfortable and too tired for much else. He gets himself zipped up, his pillow cushioning his head instantly and lets his eyes fall shut, listening to the glide of pen over paper. 

He's almost asleep, somewhere between consciousness and dreams when he hears the deep, rich voice say, "It's Nick, by the way..." 

"Niall." He murmurs low and raspy before sleep crashes down on him and he's out for the night.


	3. Chapter Two

The sun is slowly starting to rise when he stirs the next morning, Niall's eyes opening slow and then adjusting. He doesn't unzip the sleeping bag just yet, quiet as he listens to the sound of birds chirping in the trees and soft laughs from down by the tents. He turns a bit and steals a glance to the right corner of the platform, expecting the other lad to still be there, surprised when not only is he gone but his gear is too. There's a small slip of paper with jagged edges like it might of gotten ripped when he was shoving his journal back in his pack. He wiggles over some to be able to reach it, head tilting and eyes blinking a moment. It's the bottom half of a tree, round trunk with knots a further bit up but the rest is cut off, still in tact somewhere on the pages he was scribbling furiously across. The lines are a bit smudged, he can't tell if it was intentional or an accident. He settles back into the comfort of his sleeping back, cozy and warm and not ready to move yet. It's still early yet, a tick or so after six and there's still plenty of time to start the next stretch of land before him.

When he gets up he's a bit stiff, part from yesterday's trek and part from the wooden floor but he feels good, breathing in the fresh mountain air. He cleans himself up a bit and eats a couple of handfuls of trail mix before doing a look over of his supplies, the water he's got with him before rolling up his sleeping bag and getting it tucked back into his back, little pillow shoved back in on top. He curses under his breath, murmuring about how he knew he'd never get it as straight as the girl at REI did. 

He takes a peek at Haz's map and spreadsheet, small numbers on the trail with no real meaning other than the shelters are in that general area. There's no judging the distance between, not there but his spreadsheet is more in depth with a list of each of the different shelters and stars by the ones he thinks he should stop at. The places where there will be a package waiting for him are underlined and color coded and it makes him laugh softly and shake his head, amazed that the younger lad would go through so much trouble on something he'd decided to do maybe two to three weeks earlier at the maximum. "It's all about the healing process, yeah? Need to do what feels right to you. Maybe this is it." Harry had said matter of factly as they sat on the porch overlooking the front yard, grass starting to get a bit high because Haz had too much on his plate to get to it just yet. He works long hours at the restaurant he co-owns with Liam, some trendy little spot where the food has names that Harry either made up on the spot or let his hipsterish customer's name. 

Perhaps it is that, a healing process, though Niall isn't certain of that just yet. It was a chance to get away from everything that weighed so heavily on him; from echoes of conversations that haunted him when he tried to drift off to sleep to soft words whispered with such love and conviction that he wanted to cling tightly to them in hopes of saving the remnants of something that no longer belonged to him. It wasn't necessarily a healing process, more like a necessity for his well being. He gave up his apartment ages ago, leaving behind furniture that had never been quite his, a bed that held far too many memories and the tiny pink jewelry box with a porcelain ballerina inside twirling to Fur Elise until he'd played it so much the music stopped while she twirled on. He'd slept on his mate's couches or floors until one night at dinner with Haz, Rose, Poppy and Posey they'd guided him into Harry's previous office where the desk had been removed and a bed replaced it. "You'll stay here, won't you Uncle Nialler? " Poppy had asked, flashing him a wide smile with bright eyes beneath chestnut curls that fell over her face. " We'll take good care of you. " Posey'd echoed, confident in all her four years of age as she slid her hand into his and gave it a little squeeze. He's been with the four of them ever since, a square peg that doesn't quite fit through a rectangle shaped hole. 

The sun beats down hotter today than it did yesterday as he hikes along, sweat beads forming over his skin and soaking the back of his shirt but he doesn't stop, minus a quick moment to catch his breath here and there or to drink his water down in gulps, still trying to be careful and ration it though so far he's been lucky enough to have plenty. He eats a pack of raisins, cursing Harry under his breath for the very idea of them, wrinkled little fruits that are a tease more than anything. He'd teased him before he'd left him at the entrance, patting his belly and saying when he came back he'd be fit instead of tubby, though the joke was half- hearted. He's thinned out a bit over the past year, bit paler too due to venturing out when it pleased him or the girls wanted him to join them in the garden for a tea party. 

It's about the distance he covered in whole yesterday to the next shelter, and he wonders on his way whether or not to stop or keep moving forward. He'll figure it out when he gets there he reckons, in no hurry at all to get anywhere though maybe he should be. He's not focusing on the number of miles he covers or days it takes; he's focused on the dark green grass and the smell of earth, trees he couldn't even climb to the top of he wanted to and the terrain. Well worn and level in places, over grown and twisted in others. 

He digs through his pack for the beat up Walkman no one has used since the 90's, the mixtape from Poppy and Posey inside. They'd made one together with the help of Rose surely, with her and Haz making one separately as well. Laughter escapes his lips when he gets his headphones on and Lady Gaga blares through but he finds himself singing along before the song ends, loving his girls for the up tempo and pop tunes that are sure to follow. 

It's almost two by the time he reaches Gooch Mountain and he slips his pack off easily, leaving it on the tabletop as he moves in beneath the slanted roof to soak up the damp coolness there, to hide from the sun. Niall smiles a bit, enjoying the touch of darkness there when it's so bright outside and he lets out a little pleased hum. From here he can just see birds swooping along the canopy of trees and a couple of squirrels chasing each other over branches and down the bark til one disappears into a hole and the other follows. 

He grabs his bottle and makes his way south a bit to fill it with fresh spring water, pouring some over his back and front, in his hair. He's gritty and dirty, a cake of dry mud on his knee where he slipped a bit on a steep slope from the morning dew but it's a good feeling, like a physical sign of his muscles working and his body adjusting. He fills it up again, this time for drinking then makes his way back up to the building to search around for his tortillas and peanut butter to make a sandwich. 

Niall eats in peace, noticing flash of colors in the distance but figuring whoever is coming up the trail will be a while yet before they join him. He finishes off every last bite then licks the knife clean, rinsing it off so he doesn't leave his clean clothes and supplies sticky when he stuffs it back in. He washes his hand and cleans the mud off of his knee just as a guy with wild hair sticking up in every which way comes through the clearing, laughing as he pulls a few twigs from it and a girl with a bright smile follows after, her day glow pink shirt what he saw from a distance. 

"Ello there." He says loudly, and Niall can't help but grin at the sound of a British accent so similar to Harry's but so different too. "Name's Louis and this is my girlfriend Eleanor. We're filming a documentary to send off to National Geographic. Are you section hiking or thru-hiking?" 

Eleanor smiles at him wide, camera out so quickly that he didn't even notice her reach into her bag. She offers him a little wave then nods as if coaxing him to speak, friendly despite the fact that there's a lens on him. "Thru-hiking I reckon, going from Georgia to Maine. Haven't really decided yet, could end up stopping off somewhere if I run out of food or get hurt or something like it but my goal is to reach Maine." 

Louis nods attentively, now digging through his pack to pull out a large bag of M&M's, dirty hands disappearing into the bag while Eleanor continues to film him. "You can do it mate, it's easy if you set your mind to it. Can't focus on the goal, just got to take it each step. This is our third time I think now, right El?" His smile widens when he looks over at her and Niall's heart sinks a bit, hoping it isn't visible, they seem like a nice enough of couple. "It's a hell of a journey your first go, innit? But after that you're prepared for everything and anything, but the trail can still surprise you. It's a good thing I think, life throws all kinds of shit at you." He scratches at the scruff on his chin, chewing as he contemplates then nods as if that further cements his words.

They talk for a bit more before they disappear down to the spring to get cleaned up and fill up their bottles and Niall continues along, pausing to lift his headphones back up and hit play on the Walkman, the sound of 5 Seconds of Summer filling his ears. He just barely hears the sound of someone calling, tilting his head to see the man from last night, Nick, hooting and hollering to Louis and Eleanor as he comes through the brush, hands waving to them and grinning as he strips off his shirt and heads down to get clean.


End file.
